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Achieving Both Comfort & Elegance in Golf: The Development Story of ONLY's "Jersey Suit," Which Accounts for 30% of Sales

2025.03.10

In recent years, the diversification of business styles has rapidly progressed, leading to a growing demand for lightweight and flexible suits and setups.

Amidst this trend, a standout is the explosive sales of ONLY's "Jersey Suit."

Crafted from a unique jersey material with tailor-made craftsmanship, this suit is rumored to allow for sports activities without changing clothes due to its remarkable comfort. Is this truly the case?

I talked to the person in charge of its development.

PROFILE

Yu Sato

Manager, Product Planning Department, ONLY corporation

33 Stores Nationwide: Rooted in a Men's Clothing Store in Kyoto

First, could you tell us about the brand ONLY?

ONLY has its origins in a men's clothing store founded by master tailor Koichi Nakanishi, who received the Takamatsu Palace Technical Encouragement Award in 1970, located in Yamashina, Kyoto.

Nakanishi blended his extensive measurement experience with the fitting philosophy learned in the home of suits, Italy, to create suits that combine comfort with a sophisticated silhouette.

Currently, they offer made-to-order suits tailored in their own factory and ready-to-wear suits produced in partner factories.

The shops number 33 in total, centering around urban areas from Hokkaido to Kyushu, including the flagship store, ONLY PREMIO TOKYO at Yurakucho.

What are the characteristics of your suits?

They are known for their high-quality craftsmanship and use of premium materials, and in terms of design, they focus on silhouettes that reflect European trends based on classic constructions.

Additionally, to meet the needs of modern business personnel, they are also emphasizing the development of functional suits.

A Certain Shirt's Huge Hit Prompted the Birth of the Jersey Suit

So the Jersey Suit was a result of that, right?

It was launched in the Spring/Summer 2022 season.

The creation of this suit was triggered by the release of the "Jersey Shirt" from the ONLY GREEN label.

This shirt used a special nylon jersey, commonly utilized in medical uniforms, and the properties of this material were outstanding.

It boasted excellent stretch and recovery, contact cooling, quick-drying capabilities, and easy-care features that required no ironing. We printed shirt patterns onto this fabric and tailored it into dress shirts using sophisticated tailoring techniques.

The Jersey Shirt recorded sales that exceeded our expectations.

Naturally, demand for jackets and pants increased, didn't it?

Considering customer requests, we decided to create jackets and pants using this fabric; however, the challenge lay with the pants.

While nylon jersey excels in stretchability, its lack of stiffness resulted in fabric bunching at the hem, giving a sloppy appearance.

How did you overcome that hurdle?

We had the idea of using bonding technology commonly employed in coat fabrics.

By layering two fabrics together with resin, we created a solid stiffness that eliminated the loose feeling typical of nylon jersey.

Thus, the jacket and pants were completed, culminating in the Jersey Suit.

The Secret to Achieving Comfort & Elegance

I tried it on, and I was amazed by how easy it was to move!

This is the "Merino Jersey" suit launched in the Fall/Winter 2023 season.

It's made from jersey material consisting of wool and polyester, with lightweight construction concentrated solely around the shoulders. Since the lining also employs stretch material, its ease of movement is exceptional.

The texture feels just like high-quality wool fabric.

To be suitable for business settings, it was also a challenge to ensure it appeared properly neat.

Particularly, the Merino Jersey creates a luxurious feel due to its jacquard weave pattern that doesn't resemble typical jersey material.

The right side is Merino Jersey, while the left side is wool fabric from an Italian luxury fabric manufacturer, and visually, there is hardly any difference.

Not just the jacket; the pants are also quite comfortable.

We used elastic interfacing in the waist to avoid overly tightening around the hips.

Moreover, since jersey materials are difficult to iron, we applied a processing technique ensuring that the center crease does not disappear for an extended period.

Test Videos Trying Out Various Sports Have Become a Hot Topic

The rumor that you can "do sports while wearing it" seems credible.

There was a staff member playing golf in a jersey shirt, which sparked voices in the company suggesting, "We could do various sports with it." Consequently, we started broadcasting verification videos on YouTube.

We have been trying out various sports, including muscle training while wearing a jacket, rugby and ballet in shirts, and mixed martial arts, among others (laughs).

ONLY JERSEY JOURNEY More's Yokohama location

I heard a specialty store has opened.

Yes. ONLY launched a dedicated label for jersey wear called "JERSEY JOURNEY" in the fall-winter season of 2022.

Following that, sales increased, and during the first half of the 2023 fall-winter season, jersey suit sales recorded 260% compared to the previous year, now accounting for 30% of all item sales.

To meet growing demand, we opened a specialty store for jersey business wear in Yokohama last September.

Focusing on the Breathable "HIGH LIGHT JERSEY" for Spring & Summer

"HIGH LIGHT JERSEY," 41,800 yen (tax included)

As it gradually gets warmer, do you have items for spring and summer?

Conventional jersey materials had challenges with lightness and breathability.

Therefore, ONLY developed a suit using a spring-summer material called "HIGH LIGHT JERSEY."

This material is a unique jersey fabric created by weaving strong twisted polyester cotton yarn in a special way to achieve lightweight and breathable qualities.

Of course, the attractiveness of the jersey suit remains with its ability to resist shape loss and a dressy texture reminiscent of wool fabric.

Finally, please share your thoughts on the jersey suit.

There are other suit brands that use jersey materials besides ONLY.

However, we pride ourselves on offering an unparalleled blend of comfort for sports and the elegance of tailored suits.

We aim to create "clothes that extend the heart, body, and even possibilities of the wearer." This is the wish of ONLY.

ONLY's jersey suit, which allows you to do sports while wearing it, holds the potential to change the history of businesswear.

Text by Ryota Osujo